001That's it. You should I expect you to remind me. >> You don't have anything going on, right? >> No. And this regular meeting of the Independent School District 535 School Board is called to order at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 9th, 2025 in room 137 of the Edison building. The board acknowledges this site and all RPS sites are situated on the ancestral land of the Dakota people and we honor the Dakota nations and the sacred land of all indigenous peoples. Present at this meeting are school board members, Superintendent Kent Pquel, a non- voting exeicio member and assistant school board clerk, Miss Anne Kramer. Miss Kramer, will you please call the role? >> Director Barlo >> here. >> Treasure Cook >> here. >> Director Blofflin >> here. >> Clerk Marvin >> here. >> Chair Nathan >>
002here. Dctor White >> here. >> Vice Chairman >> here. >> At this time, we offer the opportunity to say the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible and justice for all. Item 2.1 is approval of the agenda. Are there any changes to the agenda? >> Approval. >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded to approve the agenda. All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? The agenda has been approved. The agenda and documents for this meeting are available online at rochesterchools.org/simly. >> Item three is comments to the board. It is important for the school board to hear from our stakeholders regarding issues that impact our students, staff, families, and schools. We welcome communication via email, phone
003call at our community engagement listening sessions and hear during comments to the board. The purpose of comments to the board is to give community members an opportunity to provide input directly to the school board about issues that fall within our authority. The board and superintendent do not respond directly to the speaker's comments during the meeting, but may follow up with the speaker if requested and appropriate. Persons who want to make comments to the board must fill out the online form by 5:00 p. p.m. on the Monday before the schoolboard meeting to sign up for a time slot. The form is available on the RPS website and on the assembly main page. By participating in the public comment period, each speaker agrees to abide by this public comment policy 206 and procedure 206A. Speakers, when your
004name is called, please come to the table. If you have written materials for the board, provide it to the assistant school board clerk and she will distribute them to board members. Choose a microphone to speak into and be seated. Please direct your remarks to the school board. You will have three minutes to speak and the timer will be displayed right there. Please begin your remarks by stating your name. Our first speaker is Amelia Barkmeer. Our next item is a public hearing on the proposal to close Mighty Oaks Early Learning School. Under Minnesota statute 123B51, Subdivision 5, the school board must hold a public hearing before officially closing a schoolhouse. The hearing must address the necessity and practicability of the proposed closure of Mighty Oaks, which includes the following reasons. identified concerns about the facility's location
005not being desirable for current or future educational programming or community use. Projected declining enrollment related to declining birth rates in Rochester, Olmstead County, Minnesota, and the United States. Anticipated general fund expenditure reductions of approximately 13 million needed before the 2026 2027 school year. Expected staff time, contracted services, and budget resources required to mow the lawn, remove snow, monitor the well and septic systems, maintain electricity and natural gas, repair roof or window leaks, secure the building against vandalism, and maintain property and liability insurance. We now begin the hearing on the proposed closure of the Mighty Oaks building. If there are members of the public who wish to make public comments on the closure, please raise your hand to be recognized. Once you are recognized by myself, the board chair, please come to the table. Choose a
006microphone to speak into and be seated. You will have three minutes to speak and the timer will be displayed on the timer. Please begin remarks by stating your name and your relationship to Rochester Public Schools. Is there anyone who would like to make comments on the closure of Mighty Oaks? Is there anyone who would like to make comments on the closure of Mighty Oaks? And for our final time, is there anyone who would like to make comments on the closure of Mighty Oaks? Seeing no more requests for comment, we now conclude the hearing on the proposed closure of the Mighty Oaks building. Next item on the agenda is a public hearing on the proposal to close Skyline. Under Minnesota statute 123 B-51, Under Minnesota statute 123 B-51, subdivision 5, the school board must hold a
007public hearing before officially closing a schoolhouse. The hearing must address the necessity and practicability of proposed closure of the Skyline Building, which includes the following reasons. Identified concerns about the facility structural conditions. Projected declining enrollment relating to declining birth rates in Rochester, Mstead County, Minnesota, and the United States. Anticipated general fund expenditure reductions of approximately 13 million needed before the 2026 2027 school year. Expected staff time, contracted services, and budget resources required to mow the lawn, remove snow, secure the building against vandalism, and maintain property and liability insurance. Predicted interest in redevelopment of the site for other residential uses. We now begin the hearing on the proposed closure of the Skyline Building. If there are members of the public who wish to make public comments, please raise your hand to be recognized. Once you are
008recognized by the board chair, please come to the table. Choose a microphone to speak into and be seated. And you will have three minutes to speak and the timer is displayed at the front of the room. Please begin remarks by stating your name and your relationship to Rochester Public Schools. Is there anyone who would like to make comments on the closure of the Skyline Building? Is there anyone who would like to make comments on the closure of the Skyline Building? And for a final time, is there anyone who would like to comment on the closure of the Skyline Building? Hearing no requests for comments, we now conclude the hearing on the proposed closure of the Skyline Building. Our next item is a public hearing on the proposal to close Fidell. Under Minnesota statute 123 B-51,
009subdivision 5, the school board must hold a public hearing before officially closing a schoolhouse. The hearing must address the necessity and practicability of the proposed closure of the Fidel building, which includes the following reasons. Estimated deferred maintenance of 14 million needed to rehabilitate the school's heating, ventilation, plumbing, floor, windows, and roof. Projected declining enrollment related to declining birth rates in Rochester, Mstead County, Minnesota, and the United States. Anticipated general fund reductions of approximately 13 million needed before the 2026 2027 school year. Expected staff time, contracted services, and budget resources required to mow the lawn, remove snow, maintain electricity and natural natural gas, repair roof or window leaks, secure the building against vandalism, and maintain property and liability insurance. Predicted interest in redevelopment of the site for other commercial uses, and presumed options for relocation of
010existing programs to under underutilized spaces within underexisting school facilities. We now begin the hearing on the proposed closure of the Fidel building. If there are members of the public who wish to make public comments on the closure, please raise your hand to be recognized. Once you're recognized by the board chair, please come to the table. Choose a microphone to speak into and be seated and you will have three minutes to speak. The timer is displayed at the front of the room. Please begin your remarks by stating your name and your relationship to Rochester Public Schools. Is there anyone who would like to make public comment on the proposed closure of the Fidel building? Is there anyone who would like to make public comment on the proposed closure of the Fidel building? And finally, is there
011anyone who would like to make public comments on the proposed closure of the Fidel building? Hearing no comments, we now conclude the hearing on the proposed closure of the Fidel Building. Our next item is information and outreach where we are recognizing National Information Technology Professionals Day. Se uh September 16th is National Information Technology Professionals Day. Our Rochester Public Schools IT professionals are responsible for the everyday management and maintenance of the essential networks, systems, and applications that power the technologies we use in teaching, learning, and communicating. Our IT staff is still engaged in the mammoth task of getting our technology systems up and running at the beginning of the school year, and we are grateful for their skill and patience in educating our staff and troubleshooting each issue that arises. Our IT professionals face a myriad
012of new challenges every day and we want them to know that they are valued members of our RPS community. Our second information and outreach item is the recognition of school board recognition month. We join school districts throughout Minnesota in recognizing our RPS elected members who share their time, talents, and leadership to ensure all students receive a high quality public education. On a personal note, I would like to add how much I enjoy being on the board with all of you. I think we would all agree that our jobs are not always easy, but our joint commitment to serving this community through conscientious oversight of our strategic plan and our finances makes our work fulfilling. And I truly believe that together we're improving education for all students in the district. >> Superintendent Pel, you had something
013to add? >> I I did. Thank you, Chair Nathan. It's always a little awkward to be recognizing your bosses, but I didn't want to let this um go by. Um uh these are challenging times to be serving on a school board and I know I'm not alone um when I want to take a moment to recognize that. Uh Joanne Barkmmyer's comments uh were extremely appropriate, but Amelia's were fantastic. So, thank you for articulating what I think a lot of us are thinking about. I mean, school boards uh are a unique governmental entity. I don't know if there's that many places where you can have the same job where people get mad at you for raising taxes and for lowering standards. Um where uh you get constant advice all around town about the things you're doing.
014I don't personally I don't think they'll ever need term limits for school boards because your families beg you to stop before you actually uh can keep doing it. Um but seriously, each of you on this board uh are so serious in the best sense about kids and about our community. Um, and so as I was in thinking in my office and it's not fair to tight cast any of you. Um, but as I was thinking about each of you and thinking about the order in which you sit on this dis uh for director Cook, I was thinking your passion uh for literacy has all made a huge difference on this board already. In fact, I admire your uh maybe lawyers ability to work literacy into every subject that uh where no matter we're going. Uh
015Director Barlo, your uh commitment to ethical conduct in all aspects of our work and and strong values and building character in our kids is extraordinary. Director Workman, you are the history keeper in a way that has benefited me and my understanding of this community on multiple occasions. uh Chair Nathan, your capacity for organization uh and your mind for policy and for those of you who don't see it, her color coding of her notes that she takes in real time uh is awe inspiring. Director Mclofflin, um both your compassion married with your commitment to intellectual rigor um is a very unique combination. Uh Director Marvin, your uh constant focus on instruction, the quality of teaching uh takes us back to the and director Whitehorn as our newest member, your passion for the kids and families that
016face the greatest obstacles to success in our community has already made a huge difference um on our board. Um as I was thinking about all of you u and if I can ask Miss Kramer to put the slide up, I was thinking about at my college graduation many years ago, the speaker was Marian Wright Adelman who was the chair of the Children's Defense Fund. And this quote from that speech which she subsequently said other times uh has stuck in my head for almost 40 years and I thought of this board that service is the rent each of us pays for living the very purpose of life and not something to do in your spare time or after you have reached your personal goals. And so I want to thank you for that service because you
017clearly don't do it for the salary or for the kudos. And in small recognition of that, I want to ask Miss Kramer to both help me hand out some certificates as the first option that are recognitions from the Minnesota School Boards Association. Um, and then we have yet another uh token of appreciation that um I think is in my view even more uh exciting. So I'll let Ann hand those out and then we will uh provide you with our final token of appreciation. And I have to say this uh comes from our chief of schools, Jackie Peterson, who many of you may know is an unbelievable baker. And so we're going to let um Ann hand these out. You will see she actually has to get the uh bags correct for each of you because
018they are um specific to you as individuals. And so I want to thank Jackie and I know Jackie and the entire all the members of the cabinet and staff who are here um join me in thanking this board for its leadership and for the work that you do for kids every day. [Applause] >> So I I told our chair she had to hold one up so you could see what Jackie did. It is chair Nathan. Thank you. A cookie you can eat with your own name. and for coordinating this. Superintendent and Ann, >> we can't eat in the middle meeting. >> You're the bosses. >> On to the work then. Our next item are our board member updates. Does any board member have updates from their committees or any other information to share? Director Barlo,
019>> I'd just like to offer um one comment regarding the first day of school at uh John Adams Middle School. Um what a joy it was uh to visit a truly neighborhood school and and see the excitement uh on behalf of not only uh the principal and it begins at that level but throughout the office staff. As I entered the building, I had opportunity to speak with the office manager who she herself uh has gone through Rochester public schools, Elton Hills, John Adams, John Marshall, and has been at the district a number of years. Her husband works with the district. Three of her children work with the district. and he said, you know, I'll put a talk to the superintendent about a go to war maybe perhaps, but uh it just struck me as being
020that's the commitment >> and and RPS is a place for everyone and and that family uh value and and ethic I thought was so significant. uh had opportunity to speak with teachers uh very excited hands-on greeting the the students as they arrived on the buses. Uh couple of u sped ESPs was able to speak with them. uh mental health practitioner able to speak with her and everyone just reflected that same level of commitment uh to the neighborhood school and the students who the returning students seemingly the staff knew them all, greeted them all, embraced them all and and encouraged each of them. I thought how powerful. uh the community as a whole. We need to see more of that and maybe our attitudes and outlook might change regarding what it is, what makes RPS so
021unique and I believe the district of of choice and preference uh and uh just seeing the joy and I like to believe the stu the teachers are still excited and the uh students are as well going into now this first or second full week of school. But uh it was a blessing to me to be there. Thank uh you for uh sending out the invitations and providing the opportunity. >> Well, I also visited uh schools on the first day. I went to Kellogg on uh their first day and then I went to Riverside and I stood outside at Kellogg where all the students were gathering outside the door. Didn't let any they weren't letting anyone in until the bell rang and I thought, how is this going to go? because they were all very excited
022and there was lots of squeals of friends reuniting. Um but went in, helped hold the door, helped greet some people and by 8:45 um the principal was giving me a tour because they had had the upgrades over the summer and the hallways were dead quiet and we peaked in classrooms. The students were all sitting getting their introductory remarks from their teachers and it was just it was a sign to me everybody's ready to go. The the students are ready to go. The teachers are ready to go and um then I went to Riverside the next day and like you Dr. all of these teachers who already know all these students and you know the some of the students didn't know who their home room teacher was and they were going in different doors and uh
023Patrick Manala uh the music teacher there was serenating them with a guitar on the playground so of course there were tears I don't know that there were more tears from parents than I saw from students um but yes it was it that first day of school I wish we could um I know we captured it in pictures and showed it on some of our social media but the conversations and the interactions um were just a great way to to kick it off and I I too hope everybody is still hanging in there and in week two. Anything else? Any other uh committee meetings or director Marvin? >> And as long as we're on the topic of first day of school, I was at Gage in Century and the kids at Gage were so excited they
024were running to get into that building. Uh the students at Century were not running. Um but I was amazed that At Century, there were so many staff members there that greeted them. There there was a celebration in the um in the auditorium, but that they knew the kids. They knew the new ones, uh the ninth graders who had been there for a day already. Um and they greeted the returning students. and that that kind of the importance that every student who showed up already knew a staff member and the staff member knew and remembered them and that is so important but they weren't running too cool. Yeah. >> All right, we'll move on to our consent agenda. Items 8.1 through 8.6. Uh would any member like any item removed from the consent agenda for separate
025consideration? Move approval. >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? The consent agenda has been approved. Our next item is our focus topic, the 2026 2030 strate. Wow, those dates. Strategic plan update. Superintendent Pau. >> Thank you, Chair Nathan. I want to invite our lead uh consultant, Spencer Sherman, to come up and join us. Board members met Spencer when he facilitated a discussion of the strategic plan in a study session. At that time I didn't introduce him very formally but now I am going to take advantage of the mic uh to do that. Uh Spencer is with the national consulting firm educational improvement firm education first. He advises leaders on policies and programs that prepare students for success after high school in
026particular. Has 15 years of experience in public education roles from teacher to state policy maker. He began his career serving low-income students as a teacher and administrator in New Orleans public schools. He then worked as chief for innovation at the Rhode Island Department of Education where he launched many new statewide projects including a cross agency career pathways initiative, a student- centered unified course platform and a postcoid tutoring program. Spencer then moved to nonprofit and consulting roles supporting initiatives such as Indiana's high school redesign effort in California's 500 million dollar college and career pathways legislation. Spencer earned a master's in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School and a bachelor of arts and political science from Yale University. He lives with his wife in Minnesota where he enjoys outdoor adventures and playing his guitar. The only quarrel
027I have is it doesn't say Rochester, Minnesota, which is actually accurate. So board members, the purpose tonight is to have Spencer give you an overview of the process through which we propose to develop our next strategic plan. The one added point I will um make before I turn over to Spencer is that I'll be working with the chair and vice chair after we get your thoughts and feedbacks on this plan to uh shape the board agenda items to align with the plan uh that Spencer is going to outline now. So, thanks for coming in and we look forward to the conversation. >> Thank you, Superintendent. And it's very embarrassing to hear your bio read out slowly. Uh, >> I cut a few lines actually. So, you know, it could have been worse. >> Appreciate it.
028>> Um, so it's great to see you all again. And, um, this is a followup from our last discussion at the study session, which thank you so much for engaging so deeply in that. This is our chance to follow up and say what we've how we're thinking about turning all those ideas and brainstorming and prioritization into our next steps. So um I've got a brief slide presentation and then I'll turn over to all of you for questions. Um so the first thing is just what is the purpose of of the strategic plan process. I think you guys are fortunate to have a very strong plan that you're building from and so now we're trying to figure out what the next stage looks like. I'll talk through three big components. First talk about the committees we'll
029be using. Then the stakeholder engagement process. then how we'll turn all that stuff together into recommendations that then um our organization and the RPS staff present the superintendent for recommendations um to so I'll start off with just talking about the committee structure um our idea is that we'll have three big committees the committees will align two grade spans so one elementary committee a middle school committee and a high school committee each committee will be structured with sort of little nested group within a larger group. So there will be a full committee which will have about 12 to 15 members that'll include RPS staff, include community members and just anyone from the broader RPS um community that is interested in support. That'll be sort of the larger group that will be u meeting to get sort
030of ideas, get feedback, and make sure that we're understanding what the needs are of the community. Within that there'll be a subgroup um calling a working group that'll do sort of the nitty-gritty day-to-day tasks of you know actually like creating a lot of documents and doing all the sort of day-to-day tasks that that are involved just to make sure that um we've got a small group to get that done. That'll be the working group. So we'll have each of these this sort of committee and smaller working group structure for each of those three committees elementary middle and high. Our plan is that we would meet um monthly for 90 minutes with the full committee starting next month um and continuing through January. And the working groups will be meeting um bi-weekly for half an hour,
031sorry, sorry, for an hour just to sort of talk through what came out of the larger non-committee meetings. So now I'll talk through about what we see as the charges um for each of those committees. These charges came out of a conversation um that you all uh led at the previous study session as well as what we heard from members of RPS staff and community and recommendations from superintendent. So first for the elementary committee there are three big issues that um this committee will try to answer. The first is redefining district-wide options schools. So how do we think about the new what districtwide option schools could look like? I know there's been some changes in transportation and so on. So, how do we conceive what those should look like going forward? Second is empowering neighborhood
032schools because the idea is not just look at DWOS's in isolation, but think about when you're an elementary school parent, what options do you have and how do you make sure that you have high quality options that have consistent high levels of rigor and that you understand understand first what parents are looking for and how RPS can better serve them. The third is thinking about the alignment between early childhood education programs and how that connects to programs. So this um right hand uh part of the slide has here's what deliverables could look like. I'm sorry for consultant speak but the things we'll give you at the end. Um it's a better way to say it. Um so what we'll try to do is give you guys a menu of options. So what are some possible
033structures, programs, practices, how can you do this? and give different options that um will make recommendations but would love to hear from you all decisions are um how to better redefine what DWOS's and schools could look like for neighborhood schools um and then some analysis um about what that could mean for achievement and also I know Chennad asked a question earlier about think about the financial implications operational implications how can you actually pull this off we don't want to just give you a blue sky we want to be like realistic about what would be the best fit for RPS So that's the elementary committee. The next committee um is the middle school committee. Um the big focus um big guiding question is about revising course offerings. So we have I think one thing we hear
034about is accountability being a question I know we sort of discussed at the board study session for middle school and also middle school as a former teacher. There's always that question for middle school. It's not it's in the middle. It's not elementary. But how do you make sure it's setting people up for what? high school actually involves and make that a smoother transition. So what recommendations? So the deliverables here, the outcomes, what course offerings, electives, and accountability practices should we include in middle schools? What are some national best practices that we can add um from national like our organization is a national organization. What can we learn from other, you know, you're not the only school district with middle schools. What can we learn from other folks and bring it to to RPS? Um and
035again, how can we address achievement, engagement, and enrollment? The last group focused on high school the um the overarching theme here we're calling enhancing curricular offerings. So within that how do you u create new and restructured curricular offerings with particular focus on what it means to transition from high school to postsecary. So we're thinking about dual credit PSOs and our CTE programs and those where those CTE programs are offered and how they can be more accessible and prepare kids for lifelong success. Um and again we'll be looking at how that impacts achievement engagement. Now so those are the three big committees and um you can see sort of skipped over this but at the top an overall interest and how can this improve student outcomes, how can improve student engagement and how it can um
036improve enrollment and be engaging and appealing to parents and families. Right. Um now move from committees into stakeholder engagement. So, two big things we're doing um here. First, for public engagement, we will be releasing um assuming how this goes. Uh uh this week, we'll be releasing a survey where we want to hear from the community. So, we asked three very basic questions and we'll try to be compiling all the feedback to inform some of our work. I'll read these questions here. What changes RPS would most improve educational achievement and student learning outcomes? What changes would most help increase student engagement excitement for learning and what changes would make RPS more appealing to families encouraging enrollment and retention? We will break this out. If you click on the survey, it'll say, are you do you want
037to comment on elementary? Do you want to comment on middle? Do you want to comment on high? You could obviously click and do multiple times for those different audiences, but we want to see if there's differences given our committees are focused on grade spans any differences in engagement here. So, that should give us sort of a wide sampling of what people are thinking more broadly. We also want to do um focus groups to dive in a little more deeply. Um so these focus groups will start in late September later this month and continue through mid-occtober. And we are trying to do three focus groups with 10 people each at each grade level. So elementary three focus groups, middle three focus groups, high school focus groups, nine total there. Um and then we also want to
038leave some room for an additional focus group about for particular communities such as don't speak English who may not feel as comfortable sharing. So, putting all of this together, here's what it looks like between now and April. So, by April, you will get our the final recommendations um from the superintendent for the next strategic plan. Here's what we'll be doing between now and April. In September this month, we following this meeting, we'll sort of kick things off. So we'll start launching the public engagement form, the survey, the three questions that I mentioned. We will launch the focus groups and we will start um launching the um the committee working groups. The working groups are sort of the the sub sort of like getting stuff done smaller group that'll lead up to the full committees launching
039in October. They will meet from October um through through the end of January. Um so October, November, December, January, four meetings once a month. Um then starting in late January through February we will have our recommendations turned over to the superintendent who will be reviewing those making her making his final decisions. And then in March based on those decisions the comprehensive strategic plan will be created. So building on the recommendations that came out of those committees and the superintendent's recommendations and then obviously April this will go to you all um for final approval. And uh here's just my last slide putting all of these together. So um in addition to these committees work um we also have these performance measure teams pts um that um superintendent can talk more about that's about setting particular numerical
040targets for each of uh your goals. Starting after this in September we will be recruiting the uh committee members. So again the committees will include members from the community and so we want to make sure that we're sort of recruiting sharing the word and glad we have some from PTAs folks like that we'd love to have be part of again February will be the reviewing the recommendations March we'll be drafting the plan and April will be um final approval and again during April we'll also try to have public town halls or just make sure that this is not something that's done in isolation we want to make sure since this impacts every parent every community member here how we make that people are aware, bought in, and excited about this vision. Um, and just little
041note in italics here, we'll be regularly updated and have the opportunity to provide input at each stage as we move forward. >> That's it for me and I'll turn over to you all for questions. >> Superintendent, did you want to start or looking for board member feedback first? >> Okay, Dr. Marvin. >> Um, this was really good and I appreciate that this was very succinct. We got a lot of information. I think this is u really well done for the committees. Assuming that there will be 80 people who apply for each committee. I know that uh you said that you want the people on the committee to be a good representation of people in the district. How will you narrow it down to 12 or 15? >> It's a great question. We haven't actually gotten
042that far yet to figure out exactly how we make it up. But you're right. So it's 15 people times three. So 45 members of committee um committees total. So we want to make sure we're thinking about representation across different groups. How exactly the mechanics of that I don't think we figured out yet. >> Um it was something I should also have acknowledged Denise Moody who's our director of um policy and innovation who will be guiding internally our strategic planning process. Denise did an extraordinary job in that exact task in our last strategic plan with seven committees. And so we're actually cutting down the committees a bit because we had a little committee fatigue last time. But um uh we will we've gotten pretty good at making sure that we are bringing diverse voices into this
043discussion and we'll be doing that not only through the committees but also through the focus groups and the the survey. Um and there will be other opportunities for input even beyond the core process that Spencer has done that. So we will make sure that we are representative of our communities uh at the elementary, middle and high school level in terms of demographic factors but also in terms of their particular passions um student needs um special needs um whether it's advanced learning or the students with disabilities and special education. And of course we will make those committee names uh uh transparent and visible and of course they're advisory. In the end, the job of putting the plan together falls to me and the decision about approving it um comes to you. But um if our experience
044in our current strategic plan is any guide and we do our job well, which I'm confident we will, those committee members will feel a lot of ownership of this plan. And so to this day when I see uh Wle Alleged around town, he remembers specifically the commitments that came out of the committee he served on in the first strategic plan and asks me exactly how uh they're going, which is wonderful. And the same is true of quite a few other people. Um uh as board members, I think it's pretty soon time to take it down, but we still have the graphic that was put together at the last meeting of those committees from our previous strategic plan out in the hallway. Um and I get kind of nostalgic when I look at it because it
045was a great final meeting where we had a graphic artist who said, "Okay, you've been working on this for all these weeks. Really, what do you think in the end this is going to be about?" And that's what the picture is um in the hallway. But it's a great point, Dr. Marvin. We do need to make sure that those committees are representative. We won't have a narrow formula, but we will be committed to inclusion in the members of those committees. >> Dr. Whitehorn, >> just clarifying it's 15 total for all the high school. >> So there's three committees. So the high school will be one committee for all high schools focusing on what high school should look like in RPS. That'll 15 members. Same thing for middle and elementary. So across the three committees be
04645 total. >> Director Barl, >> uh, two quick things. Um, one is a question of, um, is there a communication strategy associated with this? Um, because while there may not necessarily be the high level of um, community the community members rushing forward to participate there should nonetheless uh be an assurance that uh the community is well infor communities are well informed um so that whoever may represent those 15 individuals will not just be individuals but will truly be representative of uh constituent uh group if you will and then secondly deals with the public feedback uh What would be a is there a particular target goal in terms of percentage of participation? How uh will you know or how should we assess the response if there's only five people who respond? I mean what's the normal
047percentage to suggest that uh this was a good effort uh and that the community has bought in and has responded to what uh questions were presented to them. >> Yeah, great great question. So I think that for the first point I think that's that's really important. We want this to be you know birectional communication. So we want to hear from people but also this should not be some sort of like smoke fil room where decisions get made. This should be what we hear from the and let's share it back out with the community here to get their reactions and so we hope this is a very open process with a lot of communication because you always want you want to make sure that you're serving the community bas so I think that's something we definitely
048want to think about and do more of >> um I think for um sorry your second question >> uh the uh where was focus groups >> oh yeah yeah what level of feedback would be good so I mean five would five would be too small we want more than that I'm not sure there's a magic number here. I think one thing we're trying to do is think about a sort of all of the above approach. Almost like by definition the people who fill out a survey are not the average person, right? Because most people don't fill out the survey. And so you always have a little of what you know nerds like me would call like selection bias. The people fill the survey are not typical people. Um so what you want to do is
049get as many people as possible fill up the survey. We try to broadcast the QR codes and so on. And that's something Denise is working on. Um, we'll also try to do the focus groups, right? Just get besides just like people do the survey, get a little more deeper flavor. And then we'd really like honestly just to hear from the community using the community members say, "Okay, you come from this community. What do you what are you hearing, you know, outside?" And our hope is like through that we can sort of put together broader picture of what this looks like. Um, I know I'm sorry it's not like a precise answer, but the more the more you can do the better is basically what we're trying to do. Um thank you Nathan. Um Dr. Barl
050the times as I know you remember that we have done the kind of feed feedback form that is intended to go out with multiple languages tomorrow. We have gotten thousands of responses. Um so I would say were we doing a quantitative survey you you know you you want it people can say it's valid with 10% of your respondents. We've we've done higher. This will be an open form so that people are getting to tell us whatever is on their mind. Um, and so if we have the levels of participation that we had for this with the feedback forms we did on cell phones, that we did on the attendance option redesign, and that we did on the first strategic plan, we'll be in very good shape on that score because we have a very engaged
051community. Um, and so I'm hopeful and optimistic that we'll have the same kind. We may, we didn't put it in the plan because right now um this is an ambitious plan to get done and have you vote on by May. There may be an additional survey that I could envision us adding in the spring to test particular ideas that come out of the committees because what you want to do is go deep with a diverse but small number of people who can have deep conversations including maybe working through disagreements. And I could envision us saying, "We got to test this idea." And at that point, Director Barlo, we really would want to make sure we're getting a sufficient percentage to be representative of an opinion on a change in high schools or a change in
052middle schools or elementary schools. But the first stage is really anybody who's got an idea, let us let us know. >> Dr. Mclin, >> um, Dr. Barlo, you stole my question, so I had to think about it. Um in terms of the public feedback though, um what um first primary question is how long will that survey be open so people know their opportunities to respond? >> Okay. Of September. Yes. And what can we envision would be the form of the feedback back to the board? Um we will provide you director Mclofflin with both a um I'm sure transparency here AI aided summary which is increasingly powerful but we also as you know we did when we did the transportation redesign and others will give you access to the full uh responses redacted for um any
053comments that describe the idiot superintendent and language that is uh not appropriate for all audiences. Um, but we will make that available to board members as part of the process and we'll certainly be especially making that available to the committees because we know no 15 people can represent a school district of almost 17,000 kids and so the input we get from the feedback form and focus groups is very important for our committees to grapple with. >> And I just thought of a followup to that. Are we involving students in these committees? We are going to uh issue the invitation to high school students. Uh we thought about middle but um and we have to figure out the right mechanism to do it. We also had a meeting yesterday with Sarah Luis Henry and Will Ruffen
054the second to talk about the student school board's potential participation and obviously director Marvin is uh the board's liaison to that. We haven't quite because the student school board has not yet convened this year and one of the great things that uh about our student school board is that they have um a lot of say in what they work on. So we're planning in the first meeting in October to pose to them the uh opportunity to engage in the strategic plan and uh last year we gave them 11 uh possibilities and as you know they focused on cell phones and attendance. So, we're going to recommend this involvement in the strategic plan as one of the possible focus areas for the student school board this year when we get them together. >> Thank you, >>
055George. >> Will they be going out simultaneously? >> Superintendent. >> Yes, Dr. White. the invitation for the committees will go out after this meeting as will the feedback form because we really want to get get moving and so we'll make sure board members obviously receive both of those um when they move out the the timeline for selecting the committees is not necessarily the 23rd though I'm obviously maybe we should have Denise come up here because we're communicating with her and we will um as I as I mentioned we'll be sure that if there are folks that board members want to urge to apply that you have the information and you can send it out and just I think it goes uh back to the important question that uh has a number of board members have
056asked sometimes people say well why do you make people apply to do something like this for free and the reason is to have the diverse perspective ives that are um there. It's not because we don't want every uh person's energy and ideas and we also spent quite a bit of time talking about the size of these committees. Um you know this board is is seven of you and uh when we get to complex issues it can be a challenge with seven people and so I think 15 is robust but not so large and and Spencer and his team have a ton of experience doing this and so we landed on that as kind of the the sweet spot. Um large enough to have diverse perspectives and lived experiences, but small enough for them to get
057to know each other, um, have real dialogue. >> Director Cook, >> um, I I like the the structure that's laid out here and the the three committees that are sort of focused at different levels of our um, education system. I'm I'm wondering about uh some of the topics that were part of our August 12th study section that didn't find an obvious home amongst the charge statements for these different um committees and what if anything the the vision might be for pursuing initiatives around special education services or um uh there was a lot of discussion it wasn't on the list about extracurricular offering ings about mindset, behaviors, um steps for success, those types of things that are more systemic and sort of span the continuum um and even extend into some of the uh like community
058um uh programming that that comes through the district as well. So, I I I'm just I'm curious about some of the choices that are reflected already in these charge statements and some of the other priorities that may or may not eventually become part of the strategic plan and how that fits in. So, >> superintendent. >> Yeah, I think I probably should do that. It's a Thank you for that question. the the other priorities like the mindsets, behaviors, uh, and steps to success or looking at our rates of identification for special education services that we talked about will be integrated as systemwide initiatives this year that will be part of our work plan administratively, which um, the chair and vice chair and I were talking about when we should bring that to a upcoming board meeting.
059We ultimately decided adding them to a committee uh and an open-ended strategic planning process that really is about the stakeholders perspectives was kind of assigning them very technical work. Um so those have not fallen off and they may find expression in the strategic plan but they definitely have not fallen off the to-do list. Um and so we have a set of in fact October one the plans all need to be developed and approved to move most of those initiatives forward. Off the top of my head, the only one that is not necessarily on the to-do list for this year is the credit recovery point. Um, that one candidly every there's consensus on dissatisfaction with our current approach and not a particularly clear alternative right now. So, that one is one we're not quite putting on
060the to-do list for the year. Um, but the other things that we talked about are all going to find expression in the work that we'll be doing administratively. um as opposed to putting it in the strategic plan. >> Also just just add so like part of the question is like what happens administratively very strategically. The other question was you see we only had like three very sounds very intuitive that we had the elementary middle and high school areas. Earlier drafts of this had many many more committees like around particular program areas that more closely matched what we talked on the board session. I think through conversation we realized simplicity was better and also focusing on student outcomes was better. So like students should have a cohesive coherent experience in each grade span. That also should
061build from elementary to middle to high. So if we're focusing on students that leads to committee structure that's built around students versus one that's built around adult systems like oh let's have a committee on this which may or may not translate to student experience. Our thought was you know AI for example that could fit in these grades span but let's talk about in the context of what elementary school kids are experiencing. accountability could apply everywhere, but let's tell them in the context of everything else going on around. So, we thought this is like a student centered way to really hit all those larger ideas, but in the context of this, I would um like to think that we're entering to into the strategic plan so that whatever ideas we come up with, the sky's is
062the limit. But we also know we're facing some uh budgetary issues. So, um, there could be some really great ideas coming out of committees that we just can't afford. How how and when do we look at that and make that decision? >> Well, Madam Chair, you're looking at me, so I'm going to answer, but I'm going to invite Spencer to do that, too. that is um as we get beyond the stakeholder engagement phase that really is the work of um putting the full plan together. But it's also one reason for this two twosided structure that that working group needs to be constantly thinking about capacity. Whereas the stakeholders that come to the table to envision exciting new ideas for our elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools, they shouldn't forget about capacity, but they shouldn't
063be bogged down by capacity. Um so that's one way we're trying to figure that out. The other thing I would say madam chair is that um our current strategic plan and just candidly I don't think we had the capacity four years ago to do this well does not include implementation plans. It doesn't include resource plans. We developed all of those things after you approve the plan. Our hope and intention this year is that the plan you vote for in May will include resource projections, timelines, and implementation. Not at the like super detailed level, but at a level that spells out the deliverables in each year of the plan. So that when you're voting for the plan, you will be able to consider the degree to which our implementation strategies are realistic to achieving it. Whereas
064last time we essentially settled on a set of 15 priorities and then each year we developed work plans around them and I think that has been we've still ended up in a good place but it didn't force us to make hard decisions at the outset. I think one of the for me one of the biggest takeaways of the study session that Spencer facilitated was the challenge we all had in choosing from among those priorities director Cook uh just mentioned when you look at the complexity of the plan and the mix of initiatives that are there. So we're going to be ambitious but realistic I think in this other things you'd add to that. >> That's very similar to what I I was going to say like I was always told like when you make a
065goal you should be ambitious but also feasible. So like what's an ambitious but feasible goal? And I'm sort of thinking of the committees and working groups sort of doing the the ying and yang of that. So with the full committee you can be ambitious like what what do you hear from your like what's your big vision for what school should look like from your community and you may not be an expert you may not be a teacher but you know you have a kid or you're part of this community what's your vision that can be very ambitious and then the working group can be okay how do we translate that into like operationally whose job is that where where's the budget line item there? And so hopefully the idea is sort of to have that
066sort of like grounding in reality and also vision can sort of happen through the structure of the broader committee and the working group and they're both part of the same broader committee but there's a way to sort of have both of those sides of the table um to lead to like that good outcome. But to superintendent's point our focus will be on drafting those recommendations not the fullation plan but certainly with a mind towards implementation. So our message to the community tonight if they don't and I know we use various communications directly email other but if if they don't personally receive a communication will there be a space on our website where individuals can find either the focus group I mean either the uh the survey or the application or information about focus groups. Yes,
067that all goes live I believe tomorrow and so it goes tomorrow and so um this is the start of something really um exciting and I will also say that there I have no doubt that while I'm sure everything that Spencer has walked us through tonight will happen and we'll execute it well we will organically add parts to this process as we identify different needs that are there and so it will be um flexible process because we need to make sure that by the time you're voting on a new strategic plan that would guide the work for the next four years. We really have looked at the big picture. So, this is a good blueprint, but I'm sure it'll be a work in progress. >> One last chance board members. >> Sorry, >> Director Cook. Go
068ahead. >> One other thing I I meant to I meant to uh just note this that I think naming explicitly the measures and the like the outcomes that are going to be relevant to this work is really really important. I'm glad that we've we've been in this habit um routinely for a while now. Um so I'm I'm just really glad to see that. And I also like the addition of the percentage of uh students that live within RPS boundaries um that ultimately enroll in RPS. I think that's a we keep track of that anyway. It's very material to our operations. I I'm glad that it's um named as a specific outcome that we're trying to measure against. So I like that. That's all. >> Thank you. >> Our next item is our first prep for
069action item, policy committee recommendations. The policy committee met on August 22nd, 2025 and proposes the following recommendations to the school board. And this is the first of two prep for action briefings before the policy will be on the consent agenda on October 7th. Director Workman, would you like to start the briefing? Sure. Policy 427, workload limits for certain special education teachers, is part of the three-year review cycle. There are no model policy changes from MSBA or changes recommended by cabinet. Age of entrance to school policy 513A has been edited to clarify the decision and appeal process as requested by the chief academic officer. Instead of the chief academic officer making the decision after receiving a recommendation from a district team. The team will make that decision after carefully considering all the information presented. The policy
070committee recommends that the title of policy 606, textbooks and instructional material be changed to curriculum and instructional materials. The edits in sections 2 through 4 and section seven reflect changes in MSBA model policy and recommendations from legal counsel. The language on reconsideration in sections 5 and 8 was moved to 606.1 which also referenced procedure 606.1RA. The language in section six was removed and covered in more detail in a new policy 606.1R. And these policies and procedures are online so that you can actually figure out what it was I just said. >> U 606A is a procedure selection of instructional materials. Um it's been changed to align with the policy and also there were changes to the administrative titles. Uh 606B polic Reconsideration of instructional materials has been rescended and replaced uh with a new procedure.
071Procedure 606C um controversial topics is being rescended because uh a new policy addresses the same issue. Policy 606.1R is a new policy question curriculum and instructional materials. It's an uh Rochester public schools only policy and it contains updates and language from policy 606 on reconsideration and procedure 606 C on controversial issues. U legal council assisted with language in this policy and then procedure 606.1RA. There's no test on this by the way. Um it's a a new uh proposed procedure about reconsideration of curriculum instruction and it includes a flowchart for the reconsideration process and a form for the request. Procedure 609 um a uh accompanies policy 609 religious and religious and cultural observances. Uh the policy was last reviewed in 2024 but the procedure was missed at that time and there are no changes to this
072procedure. Policy 614, school district testing plan and procedure reflect the MSBA model policy elimination of section six that was made on November 14th, 2024. Policy 615 testing accommodations had changes to the technical references. Um, and those are the only changes and no changes recommended by cabinet and procedure 628, credit for learning. That procedure was not completed with a review of policy 6203 and there are no recommended changes. Board members, any questions? >> Director Cook >> on the the new Rochester specific policy and accompanying uh procedure at 606.1. Um, as I'm reviewing that and just kind of reflecting on I I know that um, certainly for our community, it's important how decisions are made about which curriculum materials and instructional materials are in our classrooms. Um, is there any context that could be shared from the
073policy committee on what this new policy is intended to address? What what problem is being sought to be solved here? >> Are we talking about 606.1R? Yes. >> Yes. So, um in the past um the um we had a separate policy on controversial issues. It's not an MSBA model policy. It was one that was adopted by a number of school boards in the 90s I think that was addressing a a specific incident that had happened in some schools and schools thought that they should have them. So um and at the same time um we have had a procedure for when people want to reconsider our curriculum or instructional materials. So we thought that since we were revamping the um curriculum and instructional materials review process, we would look at how to handle that controversial issues
074um and had legal counsel review it. And they made the recommendation that why don't we just cover it all in one policy? So it reflects um the definitions that people might use should they be wanting to reconsider the curriculum. Um and then of course the real detailed um procedures. So it's it it is in a way to try to make it clearer for the community by having it all in one place um and understanding our process for selecting curriculum, what our definitions are related to some of these questions or controversial material and then how to be able should they want to question it either for their own individual student or for the district as a whole. >> Okay, that's helpful. Thank you. >> All right, we have multiple other briefings. should do you have any
075questions in the meantime. Our next item is prep for action 10.2 resolutions for the MSBA delegate assembly. The board is scheduled to take action on this at the September 23rd meeting. Each year, the Minnesota School Board Association reviews and approves resolutions at the MSBA delegate assembly. Local school boards vote to submit resolutions to the full delegate assembly for consideration. and the legislative committee has developed uh proposals um regarding um resolutions for our board to submit to the delegate assembly. And I believe director Workman's going to give us a little bit more overview and start discussion. >> So I'll start with just a little bit more background on the delegate assembly. The delegate assembly is comprised of 135 school board members from across the state of Minnesota. Um each school district in Minnesota may uh submit
076resolutions for them to consider. Individuals may not submit resolutions. This had been a practice a number of years ago, but that's been uh the delegate assembly voted to not continue that. Um one thing that I think is important for this board to know is that a unanimous board vote is required before submission to MSBA. A a resolution can cover any education topic. It's a significant statewide concern and address uh desired legislative outcomes. The resolutions from the delegate assembly are not legislation. Um the resolutions are then researched and voted on by the delegate assembly. The ones that are adopted by a majority of vote uh by the DA guide the MSBA government relations team which represents school districts in Minnesota. Positions adopted during previous years also become the MSBA staff lobbying efforts on behalf of all
077schoolboard members in the state. For example, cross subsidy for special education is always there. It's always one of the things that we advocate for. Um so if you don't see it in this great that you get when you're in a delegate assembly. It's not gone and disappeared. So, um the legislative committee developed the three resolutions for the delegate assembly that are before you for briefing this evening. Um the board might also consider to including these resol resolutions in Rochester specific resolutions that will be developed this fall and winter which may be the same or different from or including these and perhaps different ones. Um but that's a separate process. So this vote is only for the resolutions to be submitted to the MSBA delegate assembly for consideration. Um, then the nominations for the delegate assembly
078are open till September 30th. There's a link to the nomination form in the MSBA email that you received on September 2nd. You may self-nominate if you want to nominate another person. You need to get their permission before you do so. Elections are held electronically October 1st through 15, 2025. The results will be announced on October 20th, 202025. And then there is a two-year term November November and December of 2025 and November December of 2026. So you need to keep these dates in mind to make sure that you would be available. Um the one there's one virtual resolution briefing meeting which would be on November 18th, 20th or 21st. Choose whichever one you wanted to attend virtually. And then the delegate assembly itself meets in person on Friday evening December 5th and Saturday December 6 just
079in the morning. Um so if you you know if you have questions and you want to talk to any of us on the legislative committee about this practice. So we have three resolutions before you tonight. Resolution one is to urge the Minnesota legislature to enact legislation to transition from the high school Minnesota comprehensive assessments or the MCA to the universally accepted and nationally recognized ACT which is aligned more closely with career and postsecary readiness. Using an assessment that is already widely administered statewide is more likely to accurately reflect student achievement given the stakes it has for college admission. >> Do we want to discuss each individually or them all first and then Sure. Um, the second proposed res resolution is to urge the Minnesota legislature to enact legislation establishing a study group to review and
080recommend updates to state statutes concerning post-secondary enrollment options PSO to further strengthen the quality of education and to enhance the degree to which participation in PSO prepares students for success in post-secary education and the workforce. and evaluate the financial impact that student participation in PSO has on high schools. This study should include an analysis of the number of high school students who take PSO classes that are entirely asynchronous and online and analyze the degree to which those classes engage students in deeper learning and prepare them for a successful post-secary education and a career. And I have the third resolution here, which would be to redesign the components of the comprehensive achievement and civic readiness report that must be submitted to MDE each year to better align with best practices and continuous improvement and to increase
081the value of the process of developing the report for school districts. The redesign should also include the creation of an interactive database that enables school districts to identify other districts that are pursuing similar goals and utilizing similar improvement strategies so that those districts can learn from each other and potentially work together to improve student outcomes. >> Thank you, legislative committee for your work. Board members, any questions or comments? And Dr. Dorman, is it true that a an individual district could have three? >> Yes. I I apologize. I forgot to mention that. Um I can give you a little bit more on the breakdown on on that. Um so Rochester Public Schools is in Minnesota School Board Association District 1, which includes three areas. Um we are in area two of District One and area has
08214 school districts in that area. The total of number of school districts in uh all of district one is 42 and 13 of those um and we get 13 representatives chosen from 11 districts. Um there was some changes in how the formula was used to figure out who gets what. Um and I'm happy to say that district the same status quo. We've had 13 before and we have 13 now. There were a few districts that lost one or two people and other districts that gained um in most cases not more than three delegates can be elected from the same school district. If there are more delegate nominations on the ballot than there are positions, alternates alternates will be chosen. So last year for our area um specifically we voted within that area and there were
083five seats positions. So instead of voting people in area two just voting for area two all of the areas in district one are compiled and we all vote basically at large. So that's that's a change. So, it's very important that we each submit our ballot when we get it from >> and and the ballots um will be sent out or the elections will be held electronically October 1st through 15th and then the results will be announced on October 20th. So, in the case that you know there are 13 nominees for the positions and there are 13 positions available then we don't have an election. Okay. >> Great. We also have a chance to discuss this for action at our next meeting. But these are these are really good priorities and I and I I'd like
084to carry over from the previous years with our MCAs and um I think we're looking ahead to tackle some of the issues that we've come up across with the PSO issue and the CACR report. So thank you. All right. Our next item is a prep for action item. our board meeting schedule for 2026 and we're scheduled to take action at the September 23rd meeting. Minnesota statutes uh 1304 subdivision 1 set specific notice requirements for regular special and emergency school board meetings. If the school board sets a schedule for regular board meetings to be held during the year that specifies the date, time and place for the meetings and that schedule is kept at the district office then no additional notice of those regular meetings is required and the regular schoolboard meetings are in the attachment.
085We generally follow a two regular meetings per month, usually on the first and third Tuesday, except for holidays and other dates where schoolboard meetings cannot be held or to accommodate other district scheduling. We'll add study sessions to this schedule when the ABCD for 2026 is developed. And you might think, don't we usually do this in January? But we decided this year we can do it at any time. We don't have to wait until the first meeting in January to set the dates, but this will help the superintendent when um he's drafting the ABCD for next year for us all to know that these are going to be the regular dates and then can fit the study sessions as they go on. All right, our next item is a prep for action on the C certification
086of the proposed school district property tax levy payable 2025. Um, this is a prep for action item. Superintendent P. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. You can all see Andy Croxstead, our director of finance coming. Um, Andy is going to give the board an overview of where we have landed based upon very recently received calculations from the Minnesota Department of Education. This is literally up to the minute um in preparing to share this with the board. So, I want to thank Andy for his leadership and work. Um, as board members are aware, approving the highest possible levy rate does not necessarily mean that is what will be ultimately approved in December. Um, but this begins an important process. >> Okay, >> pleased. >> Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. Thank you for having me.
087Again, this is a something that will not have done several years. is sort of a prefuncter u uh presentation at this point because we'll be back in two weeks and you actually won't be certifying the levy until December. And so this is uh the opportunity for you to provide me with any questions you might have. But ultimately it's our report back to MDE that uh we are certifying the levy at maximum is what we're we will be requesting and um that will then be worked into the budget as we go through our work this fall. You've seen a lot of these slides before and as Dr. Pel mentioned this information literally came from MD late last night and we were just getting it finalized today. But the three areas in which we receive tax levy
088go into the general fund uh community education fund and our debt service fund. And it's very important to understand that uh in most instances the levy amounts are established by MD. We don't have much flexibility in the levy amounts. We can there are a few levers we could pull perhaps uh to lower but generally they're based on our debt service that's been approved by this board and through referendum by the voters. Uh and then it obviously is the uh operating um referendum dollars uh besides debt it would be the operating dollars including the referendum that was approved last fall building bond referendums and capital projects. So again, these are the three areas in which we would receive response. It's important to obviously note that the levy is spread across all homeowners, apartment owners, every accessible
089property within the district. And so as we get to the details later in the year, a percentage increase of whatever the percentage increase in terms of 11 doesn't necessarily mean that property owner's taxes are going to increase by that same percentage because the market value of their home may have increased, we may also have more taxable property for which our tax levy will be spread across. So, it's important to indicate that just remember that as as people think about uh those percentages. So, where do we sit at this particular point? Again, this information just came from uh MDE late last night. In the general fund, we're actually looking at a slight decrease and let me explain to you why that is. Um, one, there's going to be some enrollment decline and we know that. And
090so that uh the the operating referendum that was approved in 2024 and also the 20 2015 referendum are both tied to enrollment. So as enrollment increases, the levy would increase. And in this case, unfortunately, we're seeing some declines levy decline there as well. Also, for several years, there have been some debt service payments that are paid for by tax levy actually being paid out of the general fund. and they should have been paid out of the debt service fund. Ellers recognized that when we were going to work doing the bond issuance that you approved earlier this year and recognized that we should move those um and informed MDE that we should move those three small debt issuances actually to the debt service fund. So that's why you're seeing an increase there both for those issuances
091that had been existing and also for the new debt that we issued this year. the uh certificate of participation and the uh maintenance bonds that we issued. So that is the increase that you're seeing in the debt service. The community education uh is related to the uh school age child care for disabled children. Uh there's an increase in there that's due to a levy adjustment. So a prior year expenditures were such that we did not levy enough to cover those. So what happens then is the state reconciles that and provides an adjustment to us in a future period. We need to dig into that a little bit more and we'll do that between now and December. I didn't have time to get to it before this meeting today about why that actually occurred. Uh but
092but that is uh again a a state program for that purpose and right now that is almost all entirely that increases biggest part of that is tied to the school age childare program. So, as a whole, if we were to levy the maximum, it would be about a 6.5% increase over what we actually have approved for this year's levy. Just want to remind everyone of the tax implication and the importance of the tax levy on our budget. Uh it is about 24% so about a quarter of our budget is raised locally. Um and as you as I've mentioned obviously spread out across general fund um uh operate or the debt service fund and of course the community ed fund. So as an aggregate um just a reminder we're looking at about $105.3 million in 2026
093or fiscal year 27. We collect it next year, it comes to us the following fiscal year. A little bit more on the timeline. Again, this was intended to be fairly short because We'll be back in two weeks if there are other questions. Uh and then uh we will have to certify this to MD by the 30th and then we'll do our annual truth and taxation on December 16th in a special meeting. And after that then ask the final levy certification for uh pay 26 which we then collect in fiscal year 27 budget plan. Board members, any questions? I always have to comment on the how many pages is the mte? >> Uh, it's 36 or 37. I mean, it's long >> and the smallest hardest to read type ever. >> Yes. And uh, you know,
094someone who's been doing this for three years only, there's a lot of detail in there to dig through. So, um, they've done a nice job of providing more of a supplement bill. So, thank you very much. director. >> Yeah. And I think it's also important to remind the the public that the reason that we usually set the levy at the highest amount allowable is because we can always decrease it. But if we come in with a lower amount, we cannot raise it. >> That is correct. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. >> Our next item is an action item. the approval of the superintendent goals for 2025 2026. Uh we first discussed this at the August 19th meeting and um there was a some some update to the goals that were uh
095presented in that draft and that reflected um the superintendent adding milestones um that could be better measured and some time lines that we can track. Um are there any questions or discussions board members before I read the rather lengthy resolution? All right. Hearing none, be it resolved that the School Board of Independent School District 535 does hereby approve the following goals to guide the work of the superintendent during the 2025 2026 school year. Dr. Pel will lead the development of a new strategic plan to guide the work of Rochester Public Schools through the end of the 2029 2030 school year that the RPS school board will vote to approve before June 1st, 2026. The RPS school board's review and approval of the new strategic plan will include verification that the provisions of the plan are
096aligned with the new mission, vision, values, and brand identity that the RPS school board is scheduled to approve in October of 2025. Dr. Pel will lead the development and implementation of the next generation of the RPS school continuous improvement plan skip process to empower schools to meet the needs of their students within a district-wide framework for high quality education and continuous improvement. Board members will review one skip from an elementary school, one skip from a middle school, and one skip from a high school, along with supporting documents and supplementary information to verify that the plans incorporate the elements of the skip 2.0 process that the RPS school board approved at its regular meeting on April 22nd, 2025. Those elements are listed below and a detailed description of the elements can be found at the link
097online. The performance measures include skip team members, parent caregiver involvement, needs assessment, components of the skip, level autonomy for schools, plan duration and timeline, the skip approval process, skip connections to budgets, staffing plans, and title one plans, central office support, and RPS schoolboard monitoring. Three, Dr. Pel will lead the development of proposals to enhance or discontinue use of the following facilities in RPS. Fidel, the Educational Service Center, Mighty Oaks, Skyline, Edison, PEC CEK, and Minsk online. The RPS school board will review and approve final versions of the superintendent's proposals for improvement or sale of those facilities before July 1st, 2026. Four, Dr. Dr. Pel will lead the development of a comprehensive long-range plan for technology services in RPS that will guide educational, financial, and operational decisions until 2030 to provide enhanced technology support to RPS
098schools and departments. The RPS school board will review and vote to improve approve the technology plan before August 1st, 2026. Five, Dr. Pau will lead an effort to refine the school-based component of the balanced budget model to build on strengths and address problems encountered during the 2024 2025 school year and define and implement implement the central office component of BBM. The RPS school board will review and approve those modifications to the BBM as part of its review and approval of the school district's budget for the 2026 2027 school year. The superintendent will also pres present the RPS school board with a budget proposal that incorporates the reduction approved by the RPS school board at its regular meeting on July 15, 2025. And more information on that budget redu reduction target can be found at the
099link online. Is there a motion to approve? >> So move. >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded. Any other discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. opposed. Resolution has been approved. Goals and set work. >> What are you going to do in your spare time? >> Wow. >> Uh item 12, other business. The current version of the ABCD is available in the agenda item and upcoming agenda items are being displayed on the screen. At the September 23rd meeting, we have a focus topic um which are which is the 20 26 2030 strategic plan update. I don't think that's right, is it? >> Is not right. We did that tonight. Um, our monitoring >> go ahead. >> Our monitoring item is the elementary science curriculum implementation update, prep for action,
100the mission, vision, values, and brand identity. Um, the policy committee recommendations from August. And we have action on the approval of proposed school district property tax levy payable 2026, the resolutions for the MSBA uh delegate assembly and the policy committee uh new policy committee item. And these are recommendations that come from the 2025 statutory changes. Um and then a close session on the superintendent evaluation um on the outcomes measures for 2024 2025. And then for October 7th, we have three monitoring items. The enrollment update, the newcomers programming update, and the report on the superintendent evaluation outcomes component. We have a prep for action on the language access plan and the action item on our new mission, vision, values, and brand identity. Anything board members would like to add to the ABCD for consideration? Hearing none,
101uh, our next three meeting dates. September 23rd at 5:30 is a regular meeting, October 7th at 5:30 is a regular meeting, and October 14th at 5:30 is a study session. And the next item on the agenda is a close session pursuant to Minnesota statutes section 13 DO5 subdivision 3B which allows the board to go into close session pursuant to labor negotiation strategy. The close session will be convened immediately following passage of the motion in the Edison building main floor conference room. Pursuant to the law I have cited, will someone make a motion to go into close session? >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? The board goes into close session at 7:01 I haven't eaten yet tonight, so I have to pass
102that. The board returned to the regular meeting at 7:24 p.m. Clerk Marvin, will you please read the list of people present in the closed session? >> Those present were Stephanie Whitehorn, Julie Workman, Karen Mclofflin, Kathy Nathan, Don Barlo, Justin Cook, Jean Marvin, Superintendent Kent Pel, Director of HR Carl Bachan, and Chief Administrative Officer John Carlson. >> Thank you. And hearing no other business, this meeting is adjourned at 7:24 p.m. >> Oh, now we're going to do a picture. >> We should do a picture.